North America

Vacation rental search engine HomeToGo pulls in funding

Berlin-based HomeToGo, a vacation rental search engine, has closed its latest funding round, raising a total tally of more than $150 million. In addition to the fundraising, HomeToGo has acquired its U.S. rival Tripping.com for an undisclosed sum. HomeToGo's backers include Insight Venture Partners, Acton Capital Partners, DN Capital, Global Founders Capital, Lakestar and Princeville Global.

EdCast nabs $33.6 mln

Silicon Valley-based EdCast, an operating system for the knowledge economy, has raised $33.6 million in funding. The investors included Softbank, REV Venture Partners, The London Fund, Crescent Enterprises, Mistletoe, SSGA, Stanford University and Cervin Ventures.

OMERS Ventures joins Contentful's $33.5 mln Series D round

Contentful, a Berlin, Germany-based based provider of content infrastructure for digital teams, has raised US$33.5 million in a Series D financing. The round was led by Sapphire Ventures and joined by new and existing investors, including OMERS Ventures. Founded in 2013, Contentful provides content infrastructure for digital products and experiences, making content accessible via APIs and editable in a web app. It will use the funds raised for expanding strategic partnerships, enhancing the platform, and improving the practitioner experience.

Lightspeed leads Series A round for Aquant

New York-based Aquant, an AI-powered service intelligence platform for manufacturing and service companies, has secured $10 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed led the round with participation from other investors that included World Trade Ventures, Angular Ventures and SilverTech Ventures.

OnSiteIQ gathers $2 mln seed

New York-based OnSiteIQ, a visual documentation and risk assessment platform provider for construction projects, has raised $2 million in seed funding. Anthemis Group led the round with participation from MetaProp.

Ride-hailing company Lyft files for IPO: Reuters

Ride-hailing company Lyft Inc beat bigger rival Uber Technologies Inc in filing for an initial public offering that will test investor appetite for high-profile but loss-making technology businesses, Reuters reported. The San Francisco-based company, which was last valued at about US$15 billion, did not specify the number of shares it was selling or the price range for the offering. The IPO is slated for the first half of 2019. Lyft's Canadian investors include Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Investment Board. In March, Canadian automotive parts supplier Magna International Inc also agreed to invest to US$200 million in Lyft.

Morro Ventures amasses nearly $17 mln for initial fund

Morro Ventures has raised almost $17 million for its debut fund, according to an SEC filing. The target is $40 million. Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Morro Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that invests in tech companies in Puerto Rico, Latin America and the U.S.

Forethought reels in $9 mln Series A in NEA-led round

San Francisco-based Forethought, an AI company for knowledge professionals, has secured $9 million in Series A funding. New Enterprise Associates led the round with participation from other investors that included K9 Ventures and Village Global.

Sansan fetches $26.43 mln Series E

Tokyo and Singapore-based Sansan, a provider of cloud-based business contact management services, has raised $26.43 million in Series E funding. Japan Post Capital, T. Rowe Price, SBI Investment and DCM Ventures were the lead investors.

LeanIX grabs $30 mln Series C

Bonn, Germany-based LeanIX, a provider of Software-as-a-Service solutions in enterprise architecture management, has secured $30 million in Series C funding. Insight Venture Partners led the round.